Ive always said to myself " I must go to uni , i must do this to be respected and successful ".
Maybe this was deluded of me ? ...

Sorry this is long!

Il get straight to the point. I don’t even know what i want to study ....i looked into it, i ordered lots of uni guides and i still couldn’t decide. i dont even think i ever even want to go now.. ....
I will finish sixth form in September,. I thought about Marketing at Aberystwyth Uni, but then i discovered higher apprenticeships, and i thought , why jump into a 3/4 year course that im not even sure about , when i can do e.g.a Marketing assistant apprenticeship, and so many more ?
I originally wanted to go to uni, for years..It was my dream, but when i was completing Personal Statement on UCAS , i dont think my heart was in it. I also considered sociology, but then i thought, do i really want to study that? Im not even sure if i really want to go in to that field , i personally think it would be a waste to study a bunch of studies on this subject for 3/4 years when i could read alot about this though books and the internet out of pure interest ( sorry to anyone who is doing this subject, its just my personal opinion, i also think that this subject doesn’t have good job prospects either).
I have this fear.... If i dont go to uni, il be seen as a failure. My cousin was head boy at his school and he went to Cambridge Uni ,hes very smart and i respect him , he has a very good job, and he keeps telling me IF I DONT GO TO UNI il be at a great disadvantage , and i wont earn as much in a life time.
He’s even told my mum “Encourage Natalie all you can to go to uni ”. What would be a good explanation when I tell him im not going to uni? See, their i go, worrying again about what other people think. I guess he has my best interest at heart, but im not Cambridge material, but who is right , not many. 
But does this really matter? I think I’ve worried too much about the opinion of others. As long as i earn a somewhat decent wage.... As long as i work hard and get lots of experience ...

Im not anti - uni, if someone thinks its right for them, if they want to be a doctor, a lawyer etc then good for you  .
But, as you get older for many other things , do people even care if you have a degree? Maybe degrees have become devalued? As so many people go to university now for anything .
Any thoughts ? what have your experiences been like with / without a degree? Does anyone regret doing a degree?
Does anyone regret not doing a degree? How did you get on with higher apprenticeships etc?

ive even thought, what if i meet a nice man who has a really good job and a degree, will he judge me for not having one? Or am i just being ridicules !?!!!

Sorry to ramble on. Im glad to get this off my chest.
Thank you kindly for reading : )

I’m far too tired to feed the entirety of this post in depth but in short the answer to the title of this thread is no, you do not need a degree to be successful as long as you’re wise with the job choices you make.

There’s no point spending 9.25K a year if your heart isn’t 110% there. There’s always other ways!

(Original post by njc313245)
Ive always said to myself " I must go to uni , i must do this to be respected and successful ".
Maybe this was deluded of me ? ...

Il get straight to the point. I don’t even know what i want to study ....i looked into it, i ordered lots of uni guides and i still couldn’t decide. i dont even think i ever even want to go now.. ....
I will finish sixth form in September,. I thought about Marketing at Aberystwyth Uni, but then i discovered higher apprenticeships, and i thought , why jump into a 3/4 year course that im not even sure about , when i can do e.g.a Marketing assistant apprenticeship, and so many more ?
I originally wanted to go to uni, for years..It was my dream, but when i was completing Personal Statement on UCAS , i dont think my heart was in it. I also considered sociology, but then i thought, do i really want to study that? Im not even sure if i really want to go in to that field , i personally think it would be a waste to study a bunch of studies on this subject for 3/4 years when i could read alot about this though books and the internet out of pure interest ( sorry to anyone who is doing this subject, its just my personal opinion, i also think that this subject doesn’t have good job prospects either).
I have this fear.... If i dont go to uni, il be seen as a failure. My cousin was head boy at his school and he went to Cambridge Uni ,hes very smart and i respect him , he has a very good job, and he keeps telling me IF I DONT GO TO UNI il be at a great disadvantage , and i wont earn as much in a life time.
He’s even told my mum “Encourage Natalie all you can to go to uni all you can”. What would be a good explanation when I tell him im not going to uni? See, their i go, worrying again about what other people think. I guess he has my best interest at heart, but im not Cambridge material, but who is right , not many. 
But does this really matter? I think I’ve worried too much about the opinion of others. As long as i earn a somewhat decent wage.... As long as i work hard and get lots of experience ...

Im not anti - uni, if someone thinks its right for them, if they want to be a doctor, a lawyer etc then good for you  .
But, as you get older for many other things , do people even care if you have a degree? Maybe degrees have become devalued? As so many people go to university now for anything .
Any thoughts ? what have your experiences been like with / without a degree? Does anyone regret doing a degree?
Does anyone regret not doing a degree? How did you get on with higher apprenticeships etc?

ive even thought, what if i meet a nice man who has a really good job and a degree, will he judge me for not having one? Or am i just being ridicules !?!!!

Sorry to ramble on. Im glad to get this off my chest.
Thank you kindly for reading : )

You dont need a degree to do well. If you can get into the career you want to do without a degree then imo it would be stupid to just go and do one because 'that is what most people do'

You have to be the one living your life, you have to be the one taking on the debt etc so it needs to be 100% your decision. Even if you try something else and that doesnt work out you can still go to uni after if you decide you want to then. Uni will always be there